Various types of dampers and inkers are well known, which use milling cylinders, see, for example, "Einfuhrung in den Offsetdruck" ("Introduction to Offset Printing") by Wolfgang Walenski, Eggen-Fachbuchreihe, page 176, with respect to a damper, and the textbook "Techniken, Systeme, Maschinen" ("Technology, Systems, Machinery") by Oscar Frey, Polygraph-Verlag, page 97, for a milling cylinder for an inker. Such milling cylinders or rollers are frequently used both in sheet as well as web rotary offset printing machines. Such milling cylinders or rollers are generally constructed in the form of a hollow cylinder which is retained on a through-shaft, journalled in the side walls of the printing machine.
The cylinder is adjusted for precise rotation about the central axis of the shaft by means of clamping elements located, generally, on one side of the milling cylinder. The other side of the milling cylinder was loosely placed on the shaft. Use of a through-shaft, extending between the side walls of the milling cylinder has been found to cause problems. Adjustment of the precisely circular rotation of the circumference of the milling cylinder about the axis of rotation of the shaft is comparatively time-consuming. Additionally, fitting the shaft through the milling cylinders causes difficulty since, even small contamination, for example due to an internal ridge or flashing, chips, and the like, may cause the shaft to bind on the cylinder. Malfunction can also arise due to unskilled handling; for example if the milling cylinder is improperly aligned, the bearing journal retaining the shaft in the side walls of the printing machine may be damaged. Exchange of milling cylinders--which are subject to wear in the printing machine--thus frequently leads to difficulties which, in extreme cases, may require destruction of the shaft, for example cutting the shaft in order to be able to remove the milling cylinder at all if it requires replacement.